Systems and methods for authenticating or identifying personnel and personnel related material

ABSTRACT

A method is provided. The method includes providing an authentication code onto a reference article associated with a person, determining a signature associated with the authentication code, imaging a candidate article to determine an image signature, and comparing the associated signature with the image signature to determine whether the candidate article is the reference article. A related system and imaging device are also provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/936,587, filed on Nov. 9, 2015, issuing as U.S. patent Ser. No.10/044,704 on Aug. 7, 2018, which claims priority to U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 62/077,155, filed on Nov. 7, 2014, the entirecontents of which are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to systems and methods for authenticatingor identifying articles that may move in a theatre, and in particularpersonnel and personnel related material.

Description of Related Art

Valuable articles are counterfeited or fraudulently represented.Life-saving products are always high value, and regrettably,disproportionately targeted by the bad actors that commit these crimes.

As a well-known example, counterfeit and substandard antimalarial drugswere documented to have appeared in Africa shortly after theirdevelopment, yet the media recently reported on how these fakes continueto undermine years of progress in treating and reducing the incidence ofdisease there. In the absence of proper planning and control,counterfeit and substandard personal protective equipment (PPE)similarly will thwart efforts to treat and stop the spread of Ebolavirus.

Additionally, determining identification of articles that may move in atheatre is complex. Exemplary of such articles are persons in manyscenarios where they are uniformed, making identification difficult.Examples of theatres include shipyards, warehouses, in militaryoperations, and in health care settings.

There remains a need to address these disadvantages and others notdescribed herein.

BRIEF SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method is provided. The method includesproviding an authentication code onto a reference article associatedwith a person, determining a signature associated with theauthentication code, imaging a candidate article to determine an imagesignature, and comparing the associated signature with the imagesignature to determine whether the candidate article is the referencearticle.

According to one or more embodiments, the article is a container, suchas a shipping container in a shipyard or wrapper around a pallet in awarehouse.

According to one or more embodiments, the article is a garment worn by aperson.

According to one or more embodiments, the article is multiple garmentsworn by a person or layered containers.

According to one or more embodiments, each of the multiple garments orlayered containers have respective authentication codes.

According to one or more embodiments, the signature of each respectiveauthentication code is stored in a database and associated with eachother.

According to one or more embodiments, a system is provided that includesa server configured for receiving an authentication code associated witha person and determining a signature associated with the authenticationcode and an imaging device that images a candidate article andcommunicates the image to the server. The server compares the associatedsignature with the image signature to determine whether the candidatearticle is the reference article.

According to one or more embodiments, an imaging device having computercontrol code thereon that when executed by a processor images anauthentication code on a candidate article, communicates the image to aserver, and receives, from the server, an indication of authenticitybetween the signature of the candidate article and a signature of areference article.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a flow chart depicting one or more methods describedherein. It is intended that the “person” described in figure one couldbe substituted with any item or person in a theatre in this and otherfigures described below;

FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of a plurality of imaging devicesinteracting with authentication code onto a reference article associatedwith a person;

FIG. 3 illustrates a system diagram of a server, network, and imagingdevice where the imaging device is interacting with an authenticationcode on a reference article associated with a person;

FIG. 4 illustrates information associated with a given person orreference article; and

FIG. 5 illustrates one or more methods of determining a signatureassociated with an authentication code.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With reference now to FIG. 1, a method 10 is illustrated. The methodincludes providing an authentication code 12 onto a reference articleassociated with a person.

The authentication code may be any appropriately configured code,including a random code of assigned variables. The code may be any ofthe codes illustrated in co-pending patent application Ser. No.13/457,115 filed on Apr. 26, 2012 by the current assignee of thisdisclosure and application Ser. No. 14/067,945 filed on Oct. 30, 2013,the entire contents relating to the types of code, methods forimagining, methods for generating, and methods for creating a signatureare incorporated by reference herein.

The one or more methods provide for authentication and identification(autoID) of an article from a digital image that may come from a simplemobile application on a smart phone or any other digital imaging device,including optical scanners, remote cameras, or video feed. Any smartprinter may be used to deliver autoID codes, which do not requirespecial inks or taggants, expensive validation hardware, or proprietaryprinters.

The reference article associated with a person may be a garment such asa uniform. The authentication code may be provided on the uniform as acode randomly positioned on the uniform or positioned at designatedplaces on the uniform. The code may be produced in distinct or definedlimited areas or may be produced to substantially cover the uniform. Thecode may be sewn on, printed on, painted on, or otherwise adhered orapplied on. The garment may be a multi-piece garment. In an illustrativeexample of a PPE, there might be provided a suit covering the personstorso, arms, and legs, shoes to cover their feet, gloves to cover theirhands, and a mask or helmet to cover their face. The same authenticationcode could be applied to each of the suit, shoes, gloves, and mask orhelmet, or alternative or differing codes could be applied to each andthe server and system disclosed herein could track the differing codes.

The reference article associated with a container may be a shippingcontainer 28B such as is used for moving freight by ship, train, ortruck. Alternatively, the container may be the wrapping of a pallet 28Atypically used to move multiple cartons or other items in a warehouse.The authentication code may be provided on the container as describedfor a uniform, above. The container may be layered, as where multiplepallets are enclosed in a shipping container, or where multiple boxesare wrapped on a pallet. The same authentication code could be appliedto each layer, or alternative or differing codes could be applied toeach and the server and system disclosed herein could track thediffering codes. The container may be any enveloping material capable ofconcealing or otherwise masking the contents carried therein.

The method may include determining a signature 14 associated with theauthentication code. This signature may be a numerical signature that isgenerated based on the code. Further description of one appropriatemethodology is depicted and described with reference to FIG. 5.

The method may include imaging a candidate article 16 to determine animage signature of the candidate article. The imaging may be carried outby any appropriate imaging device including a mobile device havingimaging capabilities, a scanner or similar camera, and the like. In oneembodiment, an imaging device may be positioned proximal to a check-inor check-out location for medical equipment such as PPE. In theseinstances, a person may check out equipment by scanning the PPE a firsttime to determine the reference signature. Alternatively, the referencesignature may be determined before the code is ever printed onto thearticle. In these embodiments, other identifying characteristics of theperson checking out the equipment may be monitored, such as facialrecognition, finger prints, and the like.

The reference signature and the person are thus linked with anappropriate database such as one maintained on the server. The scanningof the PPE may include scanning of each article of the PPE. In thismanner, a person may have, as an example, a mask having a firstauthentication code and a suit having a second authentication code andthe server can associate the mask and the suit together with aparticular person even though the codes do not match.

An example of an article or garment such as PPE with authentication codeprovided thereon is illustrated in FIG. 2.

The method may then include comparing the associated reference signaturewith the candidate image signature to determine whether the candidatearticle is the reference article 18. This comparison may be accomplishedon a server or may be accomplished on the imaging device or a devicecoupled to the imaging device.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the imaging device may include multipleimaging devices 22. For example, in a surveillance setting, multipleimaging devices may be positioned within a floor plan, shipyard, orwarehouse space. The imaging devices can thus track location of personstraveling from room to room or into secured or non-secured areas. Thesignature associated with the code may include information such as theperson assigned to the article, the manufacture date of the article,permissions for the person to enter into a portion of a building oraccess information, and the like. The images may then be provided withreference to a known outline of an imaged area 24.

The first garment 26 may include a first authentication code 32′, asecond authentication code 34′, and a third authentication code 36′. Thecodes may be the same, or different, and may be provided in layers withother information such as the name of the person wearing garment 26.Second garment 30 may include a first authentication code 34′ and asecond authentication doe 34″. Codes 34 and 34″ may be different fromone another or may be the same but provide on separate portions ofgarment 30 in order to provide more presentation of the codes forimaging.

A system is thus provided and illustrated in FIG. 3. The system 40 mayinclude a server 42 configured for receiving an authentication codeassociated with a person or a garment of a person and determining asignature associated with the authentication code. The system 40 mayfurther include the imaging device 22 that images a candidate articleand communicates the image to the server. The server 42 is configured tocompare the associated signature with the image signature to determinewhether the candidate article is the reference article. The server maycommunicate with the imaging device over a network 44, which may be aWLAN, Cellular, Blue-Tooth, or other near or far range network.

The server 42 may include a processor and a memory. The server isconfigured for receiving an authentication code associated with a personand determining a signature associated with the authentication code,receiving an image having an authentication code from an imaging device,determining a signature associated with the authentication code of thereceived image, and comparing the signature associated with theauthentication code of the received image with a reference signature todetermine whether the candidate article is the reference article. In oneor more embodiments, the signature associated with the referenceauthentication code may be pre-determined or provided in a downloadabledatabase. In one or more embodiments, the garment is personal protectiveequipment having a predefined period of authorized use by the person. Inone or more embodiments, the server is configured for receiving asubsequent image at a subsequent time from the imaging device. In one ormore embodiments, the server is configured for displaying, on a userinterface, a map outline of the received images with reference to aknown outline of an imaged area. In one or more embodiments, thearticle(s) are multiple garments worn by a person. In one or moreembodiments, each of the multiple garments have respectiveauthentication codes. In one or more embodiments, the signature of eachrespective authentication code is stored in a database. In someembodiments, the reference article is a garment worn by a person or acontainer. In some embodiments, the authentication code of the multiplegarments worn by the person or of multiple layers of the container arenot the same, the server configured to match differing authenticationcodes corresponding with the multiple garments worn by the person ormultiple layers of the container. In one or more embodiments, the serveris configured for receiving a second image having an authentication codefrom a second imaging device.

Relevant information associated with a person or article as illustratedin FIG. 2 is illustrated in FIG. 4, along with a floor plan for use in asurveillance setting. Captured images and signatures may be used totrack movement of a person on the floor plan.

An imaging device having computer control code thereon that whenexecuted by a processor is thus provided. The computer control code isconfigured to image an authentication code on a candidate article,communicate the image to a server, and receive, from the server, anindication of authenticity between the signature of the candidatearticle and a signature of a reference article.

In these one or more methods and embodiments disclosed herein,advantageously there is provided methodologies for line-of-sighttracking of personnel or containers in a theater or other setting. Thispresents an advantage over certain radio-based or other frequency basedtechnologies where such tracking is undesirable (such as effect onmedical equipment or a way for the interrogator to be track which wouldthus be undesirable in a military setting) or where the signal noisefrom such crowded tracking would be undesirable.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the signature may be generated from processinga plurality of elements present on an article. These elements may bedescribed using a set of source likenesses and given a numericalsimilarity score or a collection of numerical si scores. A similarityscore or a set of similarity scores may be calculated by comparing alocation article to a predefined shape or set of shapes. This comparisonmay be done by using an image representation of the location on thearticle and performing a correlation operation between the imagerepresentation and an image representation of the shape or set ofshapes. This operation may produce a similarity score or set ofsimilarity scores from the result of the correlation operation. Thesignature may contain the similarity score or the collection of scores.The collection of similarity scores can be stored and they can also becompared to determine similarity between two sets of such scored. Theseelements may be represented as a digital image and processed by asoftware code which calculates the aforementioned similarity scores. Thesoftware code may also compare two sets of scores to determinesimilarity between scores in the set or the sets as a whole.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, aspects of the presentinvention may be embodied as a system, method or computer programproduct. Accordingly, aspects of the present invention may take the formof an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or anembodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may allgenerally be referred to herein as a “circuit,” “module” or “system.”Furthermore, aspects of the present invention may take the form of acomputer program product embodied in one or more computer readablemedium(s) having computer readable program code embodied thereon.

Any combination of one or more computer readable medium(s) may beutilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signalmedium or a computer readable storage medium (including, but not limitedto, non-transitory computer readable storage media). A computer readablestorage medium may be, for example, but not limited to, an electronic,magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system,apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. Morespecific examples (a non-exhaustive list) of the computer readablestorage medium would include the following: an electrical connectionhaving one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, arandom access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasableprogrammable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber,a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storagedevice, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable storagemedium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or store a programfor use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,apparatus, or device.

A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated data signalwith computer readable program code embodied therein, for example, inbaseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a propagated signal may takeany of a variety of forms, including, but not limited to,electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable combination thereof. Acomputer readable signal medium may be any computer readable medium thatis not a computer readable storage medium and that can communicate,propagate, or transport a program for use by or in connection with aninstruction execution system, apparatus, or device.

Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be transmittedusing any appropriate medium, including but not limited to wireless,wireline, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any suitable combination ofthe foregoing.

Computer program code for carrying out operations for aspects of thepresent invention may be written in any combination of one or moreprogramming languages, including an object oriented programming languagesuch as Java, Smalltalk, C++ or the like and conventional proceduralprogramming languages, such as the “C” programming language or similarprogramming languages. The program code may execute entirely on theuser's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alonesoftware package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remotecomputer or entirely on the remote computer or server. In the lattersituation scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider).

Aspects of the present invention are described below with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computerreadable medium that can direct a computer, other programmable dataprocessing apparatus, or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablemedium produce an article of manufacture including instructions whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer,other programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to causea series of operational steps to be performed on the computer, otherprogrammable apparatus or other devices to produce a computerimplemented process such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer or other programmable apparatus provide processes forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof code, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). It should also be noted,in some alternative implementations, the functions noted in the blockmay occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example, two blocksshown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantiallyconcurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverseorder, depending upon the functionality involved. It will also be notedthat each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, andcombinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, can be implemented by special purpose hardware-basedsystems that perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations ofspecial purpose hardware and computer instructions.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a,” “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below are intended toinclude any structure, material, or act for performing the function incombination with other claimed elements as specifically claimed. Thedescription of the present invention has been presented for purposes ofillustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive orlimited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications andvariations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the artwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Theembodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention forvarious embodiments with various modifications as are suited to theparticular use contemplated.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. An imaging device having computer control codethereon that when executed by a processor, images an authentication codeon a candidate article; and determines an indication of authenticitybetween the signature of the candidate article and a signature of areference article, wherein the reference article is a containercomprising an enveloping material capable of concealing or otherwisemasking the contents of the container; wherein the candidate articlesignature is generated by processing a plurality of elements present onthe candidate article, and wherein the elements are described using aset of source likenesses and given a numerical similarity score or acollection of numerical similarity scores calculated by comparing animage representation of a location in the article to a predefined shapeor set of shapes among the source likenesses and performing acorrelation operation between the image representation and the shape orset of shapes to produce a similarity score or a set of similarityscores from the result of the correlation operation.
 2. The imagingdevice of claim 1, wherein the container moves in a theatre ofoperation.
 3. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the container is abox.
 4. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the container is ashipping container.
 5. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein thecontainer is layered.
 6. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein theimage is communicated to a server or device coupled to the imagingdevice and wherein the corresponding indication of authenticity isreceived by the imaging device from said server or device coupled to theimaging device.
 7. The imaging device of claim 1, wherein the signatureof each respective authentication code is stored in a database.
 8. Theimaging device of claim 1, further configured to receive a subsequentimage at a subsequent time from the imaging device.
 9. The imagingdevice of claim 1, wherein the imaging device is selected from a smartphone, optical scanner, remote camera, or video feed.
 10. The imagingdevice of claim 2, wherein the theatre of operation is selected from ashipyard, warehouse, military operations, or health care settings.
 11. Amethod comprising: imaging an authentication code on a candidate articleusing an imaging device executed by a processor, wherein the imagingdevice has computer control code thereon; and determining an indicationof authenticity between the signature of the candidate article and asignature of a reference article, wherein the reference article is acontainer comprising an enveloping material capable of concealing orotherwise masking the contents of the container; wherein the candidatearticle signature is generated by processing a plurality of elementspresent on the candidate article, and wherein the elements are describedusing a set of source likenesses and given a numerical similarity scoreor a collection of numerical similarity scores calculated by comparingan image representation of a location in the article to a predefinedshape or set of shapes among the source likenesses and performing acorrelation operation between the image representation and the shape orset of shapes to produce a similarity score or a set of similarityscores from the result of the correlation operation.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the container moves in a theatre of operation.
 13. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the container is a box.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the container is a shipping container.
 15. The methodof claim 11, wherein the container is layered.
 16. The method of claim11, wherein the image is communicated to a server or device coupled tothe imaging device and wherein the corresponding indication ofauthenticity is received by the imaging device from said server ordevice coupled to the imaging device.
 17. The method of claim 11,wherein the signature of each respective authentication code is storedin a database.
 18. The method of claim 11, further configured to receivea subsequent image at a subsequent time from the imaging device.
 19. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the imaging device is selected from a smartphone, optical scanner, remote camera, or video feed.
 20. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the theatre of operation is selected from a shipyard,warehouse, military operations, or health care settings.